Rehab, sobriety, and licensing

Hi all,

I'm a prospective student. I've been clean and sober 14 years and was in a rehab 14 years ago. I'm wondering if any knows if state Board's look unkindly on rehab stays. If they ask I intend to answer honestly, of course. Do they ask? If one answers affirmative does it negatively affect one's chances?

I've no drug or alcohol convictions per se, just a couple silly misdemeanors from 18 plus years ago and an unfortunate recent misdemeanor I'm opting for non-conviction diversion on. That last one is unfortunate because it's embarrassing and was really out of character for me. There's a back story but it's just boring. All the misdemeanors are so-called passive ones, i.e. no violence or drugs or molestation or fraud or anything listed as the type of thing that automatically disqualifies people from nursing. Anyway, I've been advised by the CA BRN that if I demonstrate exemplary behavior, seek some counseling, get good evals and letters from professors, and write a good explanation then I shouldn't worry about it. But, I worry about it still. And I worry that coupled with the recovery issue it might make me seem not as morally upright as I know myself to be.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? I am not soliciting legal advice, just interested in what experiences people have had or heard about.

Thanks!

sailorman12 wrote:Hi all,

I'm a prospective student. I've been clean and sober 14 years and was in a rehab 14 years ago. I'm wondering if any knows if state Board's look unkindly on rehab stays. If they ask I intend to answer honestly, of course. Do they ask? If one answers affirmative does it negatively affect one's chances?

I've no drug or alcohol convictions per se, just a couple silly misdemeanors from 18 plus years ago and an unfortunate recent misdemeanor I'm opting for non-conviction diversion on. That last one is unfortunate because it's embarrassing and was really out of character for me. There's a back story but it's just boring. All the misdemeanors are so-called passive ones, i.e. no violence or drugs or molestation or fraud or anything listed as the type of thing that automatically disqualifies people from nursing. Anyway, I've been advised by the CA BRN that if I demonstrate exemplary behavior, seek some counseling, get good evals and letters from professors, and write a good explanation then I shouldn't worry about it. But, I worry about it still. And I worry that coupled with the recovery issue it might make me seem not as morally upright as I know myself to be.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? I am not soliciting legal advice, just interested in what experiences people have had or heard about.

Thanks!

As part of the licensing procedure the state board will run a criminal background check. I believe most states ask about prior convictions
on the paperwork and its best not to hide anything as they are sure to find out. If the stuff that happened a long time ago was in your teenage years you might think about having your juvenile record sealed before you apply to the BRN. If your most recent offense is drug or alcohol related you may get a probabtionary license with radom Urine testing or be placed in a diversion program. Lots of hassels but you can get through it. I am currently in my third year of Californias diversion program and so far so good.

Hope this info helps

check out the nurses in recovery board on this forum

Hppy

If your arrests were not drug or alcohol related, I would keep quiet about your recovery. Not sure about now, but 20 years ago the CA BON only wanted to know about DUIs within three years of application.

If your record is chemical dependency-related, then you do have to admit to it, but don't worry about it. 14 years of sobriety is a LOOOONG time and they will definitely take that into consideration.